Out and Gone
by Samjok-o
Summary: Under Ishmael's light nothing is forgiving and everything must be perfect. Three knight classes run away in search for another life. They seek Solace, the traitor who allegedly has created a paradise to live in outside of Ishmael's light.
1. Rolling in

_Under Ishmael's loving light we welcome all. Please be on watch for three rouge Knight class: Elswords on the run. They have achieved their thrones and possess El's warrant. Be on high alert and notify any other wandering El protectors._

In the raining murky city, where the lights of the diorama forever glowed and the artificial sun was used sparingly, the three knight classes huddled behind an anti eye zone which they had created with their weakening El warrant. Infinity Sword glanced at the the diorama in the far distance where the screen glowed steadily.

Lord Knight was tending the injured Rune Slayer who had a large gash on his abdomen, where blood seeped out. Worried he hovered over the sickly knight. Rune Slayer was not in good condition, his skin was clammy and pale, and he groaned every once in awhile in pain, his mutterings so soft that even Lord Knight couldn't hear. Infinity Sword cursed under his breath. Nervously Lord Night took a shaky breath and took off some of his garments to try and staunch the wound. He applied pressure onto it. His eyes were wide and shaking, his hands trembling so hard he couldn't grip tightly. Blood was already staining the white cloth.

"Move." Infinity Sword ordered him, taking Lord Knight's place and applying pressure. Lord knight let out a steady breath.

"Our strongest throne in our group is injured. What are we going to do?" muttered Lord knight nervously. Infinity sword didn't reply. "This barrier won't last long, we have to get moving before the El's warrant wears off."

A sigh. Infinity sword was slumped against the wall, blood on his hands. His dark garments labeled him as the dark throne. His eyes were the most strangest out of the other knight thrones, they were such a bright orange red color. "But where too?"

"Anywhere else from here." replied Lord knight, pacing back and forth. "We have to get out of Ishmael's gaze. Maybe find Solace somehow."

"Yeah." snorted Infinity sword mockingly with narrowed eyes. He laughed bitterly while Lord knight paused to stare at him. "Because obviously we'll somehow find the most dangerous master throne that killed the other master thrones."

"Anythings better. They'll just get rid of us all." Lord knight snapped back, stress and worry getting to him. He paused and went to check on Rune Slayer again before also watching the rain fall alongside with Infinity sword. "Infinity, if we go back they'll kill all of us together."

"Yeah, yeah, knight don't you think I know that?" Infinity sniped back, narrowed eyes.

"No, it's just. . ." Knight trailed off, glancing at Rune slayer. "I just don't know what to do, i mean, we're alive, but for how long?"

They lapsed into the song of the rain falling. The two were extremely tense, waiting for the other classes to come barging in under Ishmael's orders. Today was a horrible day for them. After all, they were both the betrayed and the betrayers. Puppets that couldn't move on their own strings. Both knights wore different expression. Knight one of worry and hopelessness, and Infinity one of apathy and annoyance.

"We have to treat Rune or leave him behind, one of the two." Infinity told Knight, his eyes dead into his. Knight's eyes were fairly expressive from the softest of smiles to the most stern and forbidding glares.

"We have to save to save Rune, he risked our lives for us." Knight responded with stern admonishing in his voice. Rune gasped faintly and turned over, groaning in pain. Knight rushed over to him. "He doesn't look too good."

"Well, no duh." Infinity rolled his eyes, and then looked around. "I can undo some of the warrant into a small heal fraction."

"You can do that?" gasped Knight with wide eyes. Infinity shook his head.

"I can try. Most of it will only stop the bleeding. If they added a virus or something. . .'fraid I can't heal that." Infinity replied. "It will weaken the barrier, by a lot."

"Let's do it." Knight replied with no hesitation. He watched as Infinity materialize a red orb. Infinity removed the cloth and gently pressed the orb into the wound where it got absorbed. The flesh knit itself together and closed. Infinity then wobbled slightly before being caught by Knight. "Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine, just give me a bit." he muttered back. "We now can't stay here for sure. The barrier is too weak, we have to move."

"Infinity, we have you tired and a half dead Rune, we can't go anywhere." reasoned Knight, but Infinity stood up and shook his head. He pointed a finger to the sky. There was a swirling spell circle in the sky glowing blue. Knight recognized it too. The magic of Ishmael. Ain.

"We can't stand against his scrying magic, we gotta move." Infinity picked up Rune, bridal style. Knight bit his lips but starting making the barrier mobile. The three made their ways through back alleys and short cuts they had found. They couldn't slip up and bump into another el protector.

They took a short break. Rune showed no signs of stirring, and Knight was already tired from having to maintain a moving barrier. Infinity gasped, "Who are we kidding, we'll never make it."

"Don't say stuff like that." replied Knight. Knight was never the one for magic, and having to handle this much magic was taking a toll on him.

"Maybe we should write our wills and that shit." Infinity muttered.

"Language!" Knight warned with a quick glare, but Infinity didn't seem to care.

"Fuck, shit, ass, hell, heeeeeeennnnrirrr." Infinity drawled out in some sort of smugness from saying the vulgar words. He laughed, eyes shining. The first time Knight saw him ecstatic, and it was terrifying. "No can tell us what to do! Screw the rules, I can shout henrir all say long because I don't care! I can talk to Conwell and summon him whenever I want to, nobody can stop me! Nobody can hurt me! No has to tell me that without my throne i'm useless!"

Knight shivered. He had been warned about how dangerous Infinity was. No morality code, insanity, talking to an inanimate object, enjoying the misery of others.

"I can kill them." whispered Infinity as he turned to meet Knight in the eye. Knight was taken aback by the pure shock, joy, and surprise in his eyes. "I can exterminate them like they tried with us. Murder, end, removed. All the same."

Knight repressed an urge to back away. "No." Infinity's happiness broke into making his eyes such empty, dead, unseeing things. That orange and red showing signs of brokenness.

"Are you like them too?" Infinity asked in a whisper, a soft scratchy whisper. He walked forward, drawing nearer to the knight. "Are you going to tell me what I can and can't do, who I am. Are you going to stop me like them?"

Knight couldn't answer, his face so close to the eyes of a murderer, his tongue failed him. "I-i-i-"

"Stop. . ." a hoarse scratchy voice. It was Rune, Knight immediately went to his side. Knight took his hand.

"Are you alright? How do you feel?" asked Knight worriedly. Rune was still pale, eyes sunken, but he was regaining color. Rune nodded slowly and chuckled weakly.

"I'm. . .alright, for now. . ." he whispered. Infinity tsked and looked off. Rune turned his heads to him. "Infin. . .don't be like that. . .if we want to live. . we've got to be-" Rune broke out coughing. Knight worriedly watched Rune.

"Just shut up." sighed Infinity. "You may be the strongest throne, but you're slowing us all down." glared Infinity. Rune smiled, condescendingly.

"I'm not. . .suicidal. . . at least." replied Rune with a weak grin.

"Says that one that was just flirting with death." countered Infinity, Rune shrugged.

"A man can't be perfect." There was a bout of awkward silence.

"We should keep moving." Knight reminded them.

"But to where?" asked Infin with scorn. He failed his hands about as if trying to use his hands a models to describe what was happening. "We have no way out and our barriers are running out of time, and we're stuck here, like a mouse in a bucket with a cat looming over us."

Rune grunted as he tried to sit up. He summoned the warrant again. It flashed into a rune before faded. But the change was immediate. The air was clearer and the barrier more solid. Quiet humming filled the air. Rune winked. "I know you wanna kiss me for this. I can manage the barrier, not so useless now, huh?"

Infinity tsked again and Knight laughed, seeing how their odds of survival increased. Despite this, they were all incredibly tense and nervous, with this at least, they could stall a bit more before their deaths. The magic spell in the sky vanished ominously, sign of that Ain was tracking their prey. Any good mood that was left died quickly along with their future.

"Let's get going." Rune managed without gasping but still in obvious pain. Infinity didn't say anything. The stakes were too high, and they knew their fate was sealed. Yet they kept going. Infinity and Knight took turns giving Rune a piggy back ride. Knight had stronger stamina and strength than Infinity so Knight ended up carrying Rune more.

At another pit stop Knight suddenly asked. "What are your guy's wills? I mean let's confess everything before we die. We shouldn't keep everything pent up before we die."

"Why not." Rune shrugged. "Seems like the best idea I've heard so far. I wanna go first anyways." Rune stared at the raining sky with wide crimson eyes. "I do believe I used to have a crush on Elesis, our older prototype. A complex I dare say. I was surprised finding out that I had the strongest throne. I liked it, being strong, but honestly I couldn't care. I just wanted too. . .wanted too live without the will of Ishmael controlling us, judging us. I think I felt pressured to do better because I got the strongest throne." Rune turned over to Knight, "What about you?"

"Well, I still respect Ishmael." Knight started. Rune didn't seemed to be bothered by that information, but Infinity was. "I think because of her we are alive. . .because of her it turned out this way too." he sighed. "I don't have many regrets. I didn't care for strongest, but I care for you guys and everyone else. I just wished I could have gotten along with others before this. I wish that it didn't turn out this way."

"I see." Infinity was staring into the wall, cross legged and his gaze distant. "Honestly, Ishmael seems to be everything. I can't stand it, but I can't not stand it either. I wished that they didn't do such things to us, the tests. Out of us all, they probably treated me the worst. I was the virus, the one with outlier powers, something that Ishmael can't stand. But I suppose, it doesn't matter anyways. I know for sure we'll die." he sighed and stood up. "Let's get going."

There was a soft footstep standing on the cement behind them. The rain stopped. A clear powerful voice. "No, you will not." Infinity turned around quickly, and Rune tried to weakly stand up couldn't. Knight just stared. Cold blue eyes. The high El protector. Ain class Arme Thaunmatury. "You are to be brought into Ishmael's judgement."

"Don't do this Ain!" shouted Knight, holding Rune again. Infinity narrowed his eyes and summoned Conwell. The sharp blade that would cut injuries that lasted, it radiated a energy similar to the darkness of blood thirst and death. Ain's footstep hesitated for a single second before striding forward. His pendulum shattered and in one fluid motion he summoned an energy spear.

Infinity was nervous. He looked at Knight and then at Ain. "Go, I'll hold him off."

Knight blanched, "You can't be serious!"

"Are you insane?!" Rune agreed. Infinity snapped at them twice as fiercely. From afar the Ain made no move.

"GO!" something sparked into Knight's legs. He was running. Yet he didn't stop. He felt like if he stopped running he would die.

"No, no, no, NOOO!" screamed Knight. He had to go back, but fear and terror propelled him. He had to face Ain with Infinity. Rune was screaming as well.

Why did they have to leave Infinity behind?

* * *

This is a sort of futuristic machine world with el in it. All classes are involved but they have nicknames or are dead. There can be more of one class per character. However there are survivors that are strong and outlive all the other classes. They earn the class title.


	2. The Tunnel

Rune felt his head hurt. He remembered a light, something soft and enchanting and Knight and Rune followed it dazed into the darkness, where they left the cold light of Ishmael's light. The darkness of a tunnel. They passed out.

"You must be very tired." a familiar face, but different appearances. The face of Ain but not the looks. The Ain had short grey hair and a golden dangle earring. He wore a green shirt and a white and black coat. Fashion not part of Ishmael's rules. Knight knew that he was an runaway like them. He poured them tea in the dark tunnel they were in, with only a slowly dying lantern for light. "You must be so confused, I understand. But please one question at a time."

"Who are you?" asked Knight warily. He was protectively in front of the still weak Rune. His sharp scarlet eyes tried to see through the Ain's face. His face was a smile, a cat's smile. The smile when someone gives when they known something that you don't. It was supposed to be happy and welcoming, but all Knight could do was mistrust it.

"I am Ain. I ran away just like you did." he offered Rune and Knight a cup of tea with the teacup made out of some sort of clay. "It's a story for later. We have to keep to the questions you need to know now. We may die right now, so quickly ask the things you need to know."

"What will happen to Infinity?" asked Rune worriedly as he took a sip of the tea and then recoiled from it like poison. He whispered, "This stuff tasted terrible."

Ain's expression darkened, and his smile faded a bit. He bitterly laughed and replied, "I don't know. Once caught again you'll probably be executed or destroyed. Maybe brainwashed and sent back to the labs. We've never had anyone return."

"How many of us are there?" asked Knight.

"Not too many. We are few in number and very spread out." replied Ain while pouring more tea for himself. "We try our best to protect the runaways before they get caught. We even have insiders that give us information." Then staring at Rune he continued, "You should really drink the tea, it's good for you."

Rune scoffed and turned away. Knight however was troubled by Ain's reply. "What do you mean? That there are insiders? Under Ishmael's gaze?" Ain only smiled. "B-but-"

"Details later." Ain warned gently. Knight nodded, trembling.

"How will we live outside of Ishmael's light?" asked Rune. Ain fingered the teacup's rim, glancing at the brown liquid rather than Rune's face.

"That's a bit hard. The outside world is nothing. There is no life, no food. Demons wander aimlessly, and monsters lurk in the shadows. There is nothing outside of Ishmael's light, only never ending fog that will kill you if you stay in there too long." Ain meet eyes with the knight classes.

"So you'r saying there's nothing out there?! We did this all for nothing?! And Infinity is probably dead!" Rune screaming, slamming his hands on the makeshift table, eyes wide and teary. His voice hitched. Ain simply kept smiling and raised a finger to his lips. Rune started coughing, and Knight helped him sit down.

"There is hope. Solace comes around and picks up us stragglers. He has created a method to replace Ishmael's light and el so that we may live in peace without Ishmael." Ain says. Knight's eyes shines and he asks rapidly.

"Solace exists?" Ain nods and takes a sip of his tea. The two knight classes excitedly share glances. A hope, single ray of hope enough to end a lifetime.

"He may not be the answer that you're seeking, but he is the cause of it." smiles Ains, words ever so cryptic. He stands up and then gives the lantern to Knight as he destroyed the table and drinks the rest of the tea. "Follow me."

The cavern is dark and endless, made of steel and metal. The soft light only showed a feet ahead at a time, the mystery of the place so alluring, warning danger. In the dangerous quietness, Rune thinks. His helplessness caused Infinity's doom. While Rune and Infinity shared a strange bond, it wasn't like they were even close. Just allies until they weren't. Yet seeing him go made his heart hurt. After Knight had ran far enough, Rune could peer over his shoulder to see the blast of heavenly light and screamed Infinity's name. His end. Rune knew that if he wasn't so injured he would have ran away alongside Knight. Something sparked into them at the same time. Fear. It had been hiding, after restless hours of convincing himself to ready his death, Rune still wanted to live. He had been scared of death. But yet Infinity wasn't. And now he was dead.

As they had walked, panting and tired, Knight and Rune saw something. A lone golden light that trailed. They had followed it, and before they knew, they were walking into a secret passage way into the cavern where the Ain sat, preparing tea.

"We were useless to our comrade." whispered Knight, saying their worst sins out loud. His eyes were lit by the light of the lamp. "I ran because I was afraid, yet he stood there."

"Against an Lofty? Arme Thanumaturgy, right?" aked Ain, still ahead of them, his back to them.

"Lofty?" asked Rune curiously.

"Yes, it was our type name, like yours is knight." replied Ain knowingly. "Perhaps they had named him Ain because they thought he should be the only class." in a softer voice, muttering to himself, "They found us all faulty but him. What a pity."

"What?" Rune asked.

"Nothing." it was that smooth peaceful reply that Ain gave. "You wouldn't have stood a chance even if you all fought him. He probably had backup and you haven't even gained enough experience to stand against him and the fact that. . .it's nothing. You would have all died anyways against him. It was a noble sacrifice."

"No, we should have all left." argued Knight, words filled with anguish, words of self blame. "I just did that. We had all escaped together, but in the end, even that wasn't enough."

"It is a pain you must carry." a soft serene voice carrying such harsh words. "You must endure it for you know the truth."

"Why did this happen." sighed Rune. "This is our choice we choose, yet everything is the wrong choice. Staying, leaving it's all the same." With a cynical edge Rune and turned to face Knight, "Does it even matter? No one cares but us, to anyone else Infinity has to be a memory that must be forgotten otherwise then they'll know about us."

Knight stared at him, eyes wide. The words hurt. Even so much more than beautiful lies. They hurt. They traveled in silence.

They took a break where Ain offered more tea, which their hungering bodies accepted. Even Rune who wrinkled his nose at the taste swallowed it without too much of an complaint. They trudged till their feet grew weary and they slept with the dying lantern light, unease settling over them like a dream.

Rune had a strange dream that night. It was about him. They called him Elsword. Who were they? Rune didn't know. The name sounded familiar and wonderful. When Rune woke up, he was almost sorry to see the dream go. With his aching heart and feelings, he saw the Ain already awake. Rune didn't like the eternal darkness and the wandering with only the small lantern for company. It felt like they were being swallowed inside a beast. He shook Knight, who was grunting in his sleep, muttering darkly.

"Yo, Knight, wake up." he whispered urgently into Knight's ear. Knight wearily blinked his eyes open and looked around.

"W-where?" he spoke weakly.

"I see you're both awake." Ain's voice floated over to join them. The man was changing the lantern fuel. Rune's and Knight's stomachs growled. Knight looked down embarrassed, but Rune could care less. Ain smiled, the soft light making his smile menacing. "I see, you both are also hungry."

"Y-yeah." stammered Knight, looking away abashed. Rune shrugged ditching all politeness.

"Do you have any food?" asked Rune, Knight glared at him. Ain shook his head.

"I wasn't expected to pick up any runaways, the last few ate right through our stores." he said good naturedly. He picked up the lantern, and with a smile he told them, "The closer we are to base, the better. The base had food and shelter."

"Great!" cheered Rune, and Knight smiled lightly. So they walked some more. Rune had done el protector training, but he had never walked this long. It hurt everywhere. He wanted to curse. Ain was still smiley, and Rune started to wonder if all Ains were machine like monsters. Ain versus a jamming type would be terrifying.

It was henrir for walking. Everything hurt, Rune and Knight were thirsty, their feet hurt, heads swam in thick pain. The gash Rune pulsed with phantom pain as if it were complaining. Ain was still cheerful and smiling. Rune's thoughts wandered back to Infinity as time slowly ticked by. Talking wasted moisture and it hurt to talk, so nobody talked. Instead of complaining, Knight forced his words into footsteps, like he was using his words to push forward. Memories were useless in the el protector society. Willingly they gave away their memories over and over becoming 'clean' and 'blank'. Medicines that would eliminate useless memories. Knight could understand. The burden of Infinity's life rested upon them. Knight wanted to forget it. Stepping on his words, crunching them under foot, destroying them.

"You should calm down." Ain's soft voice echoed through the tunnel way. Ain stopped. Knight was snapped out of his trance, and both Knight and Rune stopped as well. "Your blood thirst is taking form. You should suppress that unless you want the el protectors to pick it up."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Knight replied miserably, and distracted, staring at Ain's back. Ain turned around, his face was empty. It was strange to see an always smiling man to have his smile stolen.

"I'm afraid," he gritted out, and forced a plastic smile, as he walked past Rune and Knight,"Our time is cut close. My show is over."

Ain handed Knight the lantern. Rune shouted, alarmed. "Wait! Where are you going?!"

"Shhh. A el beast was released. It will pick up on our trail." Ain told them. "Hurry and go, I'll stall."

"Wait, what about you?!" Knight remembered what Infinity did, his eyes were too wide, his heart beat too fast. Ain smiled, warmly. A sweet smile. Rune knew that smile. A lie.

"I'll be fine. I already contacted the Diceon. They'll be here, it doesn't matter where you run off too." Ain smiled and pushed him gently. "I know my way around here."

"Let's go." Rune urged Knight, something was taking over him. His words weren't his own, something yawned awake in him. Something ugly. "Didn't you hear him? He'll be fine. Let's go Knight."

Rune knew his words were empty, filled with darkness and something that wasn't his. Just like when he was running away from Infinity and Ain. Knight glanced back nervously, and then nodded. They ran, the little lantern dangling. Rune could see the figure left behind in the darkness slowly being eaten up. After awhile of running, they paused in the middle of nowhere. Running away from their destiny it seemed, the monsters, everything. All they did was run and run and run. Rune hated it. Knight hated it. Rune felt like crying but he quickly swallowed his emotions down. He was running because there was no other way. It was too tiring. Rune collapsed while Knight keeled over panting.

"It happened again." gasped Rune, eyes close to teary. "We left someone behind, but why do I get the feeling. . .something else was involved. . .yet it's still our fault again! After what happened to Infinity we just abandoned him like we had done to Infinity before."

"I don't understand Knight," continued Rune his usually cheerful personality was wrecked with a guilty one of loneliness and despair, "Why is everyone leaving us!?"

"I-i don't know either." Knight replied, his eyes downcast. "I guess the best we can do is continue on."

"Because we're always being abandoned! By Infinity, by that Ain!" Rune leapt up and grabbed Knight's hands suddenly, desperate eyes and face thrust into his. Startled Knight flinched bach, but Rune held on tightly, "Promise me Knight, swear to me that you'll never abandon me!"

Such hysteria and fear in his eyes, madness, desperation. Knight flinched away from it all, his newfound terror created by Ishmael and her world. "Y-yes, I promise."

Rune searched his eyes, before letting him go with a sigh. "Thank you Knight." He smiled weakly, "I don't know, I felt something and I took it out on you. Sorry."

"Yeah." Knight lamely responded.

"What are a pair of el protectors doing in this tunnel." a sharp clear voice. It was another code type. Another code walked into the dimly lit area from a distance.

You could make out from the shadows long wavy white hair, honey yellow eyes, and a black short dress. She had a blue orb on her forehead. Her black dress seemed to be made of metal. Her honey eyes were too wide to be a human's and far to reflective. Pale skin, and a slight unnatural statue like sheen. Her ears were in the Code Nemesis class shape. It looked to be a Code Nemesis class.

"You must be the Diceon group that Ain mentioned!" cheered Rune happily, however Knight was still hesitant, the Code Nemesis had a sword drawn out, trailing behind her.

"How do you know the name." asked, well more like ordered the Code Nemesis, Rune blinked, surprised.

"We heard it from Ain, he said he contacted you guys." Rune explained, confused. Code Nemesis seemed to freeze for a moment before reply.

"You two are wearing el protector clothes and are suspiciously wandering around the tunnels. Extermination task in work." the Code Nemesis's eyes flashed dangerously as she hefted the sword up. Knight and Rune both took a step back. She jumped at Knight, her sword almost hit him, a few more slahes, and she turned around and throw electric balls at Rune who blocked them and sent runes at her. Code Nemesis then jumped out of the way of the runes and sent threw a sword down in Knight's direction. Spikes stabbed into his leg.

Knight screamed, in pain. Rune glanced over and saw red blood running down his legs. Rune narrowed his eyes and summoned the largest and sharpest rune sword, grabbed it and tried to thrust the sword at the code type. She dodged last second, the sword tearing her clothes. Her eyes narrowed. They parried, Nemesis dashing in and out, throwing electron balls and nasod spears. Rune felt his mana draining and tiring, and Knight was in pain. He had been shocked several times and now he ached everywhere. It hurt. Yet something in him drove him to attack harder and slash harder. Then his stomach disappeared when Nemesis summoned a giant nasod spear.

It threw him across the tunnel, and while he had dodged the sharp part, the blunt force of it hurt. He was in pain, moaning and gasping. Blood dripped down everywhere. They never had a chance. They had been on the run, hungry, tired, and now against a nasod which never tired and never felt hungry? Rune knew who was going to win. He was smashed against the wall. It hurt to breath or even talk. Every breath he took was a bolt of pain in his ribs and arms and left leg.

He crowed in victory as he saw his rune swords impaling her stomach. Three in fact, there was one cleaving her thigh in half, on vertical to stomach in the middle and another right next to it. Rune strained his ears to hear.

"Backup requested. Error. Error. Error. Unable to access backup storage tank. Start operation Shut down." while Nemesis said that, her eyes turned dull and faded to black. The spear deconstructed itself and turned to scraps of metal that retreated to Nemesis, removing the rune swords that promptly faded away after being removed, and covered the damaged areas.

Rune's eyes gave out, the pain was too much and he fell back into the lull of sleep. Sweet dreamless sleep.


	3. Diceon's Witch

"This is the end." sighed the magician class, dimension witch type. She has slightly messy hair in pigtails and wearing a short pink dress. Besides that she had no armor on, and a jewel pendant around her waist like a belt. She was very pretty in a cute little girl type way. She had purple hair and eyes.

She and several others were in an underground metal room, small and all the walls were curved. There was lighting on the sides of the walls and makeshift seats and weapons lying around. There was two others in the room. One was a spearman class, asura type. The asura wore a simple white hanbok, the long skirt cut slightly shorter with white boots and a white and black bow in her hair. Her hair was long and black streaked with white with yellow orbs weaved into them. She had a sly and cunning look. The other was a tracer type, lunatic psyker class. He had fluffy white hair that stood up. He wore a dress shirt with various pieces of armor. Dynamos hovered around him.

"Now, now, Demi, don't go off into the 'we're all going to die phase again'." Asura condoled her with a motherly voice. She leaned forward and patted the dimension witch on the back. They were sitting in an awkward line with Demi on the right, Asura in the middle and the lunatic psyker on the left. Then Asura whispered to the lunatic psyker, "We just got her out of it, now she wants to go screaming we're all going to die again? Kill me."

"I know." sighed the long suffering lunatic psyker back to Asura. Demi glared at the conspiring two, as she was able to hear everything they said.

"I can hear you." she glowered at the two, lunatic psyker just ignored her and looked off into the distance while Asura innocently smiled back as if to say 'who me? Nah wrong person'. She rolled her eyes. "Any-"

"Shut up." lunatic psyker interrupted focused on his diorama that popped up from one of his nasods. Demi turned her glower full on with a killer smile.

"Excuse me?" she said softly, killer intent spiking up. Lunatic psyker just waved a hand in her direction and ignored her.

"Please sit down and be civil. For once." lunatic psyker gave her a sideways glance before continuing. "Nemesis's signal got terminated."

"What?!" shouted Asura and Demi in unison. They both turned to share twin glances. Lunatic psyker muttered and pulled up an large diorama that showed a video. It showed two knight classes fighting with Nemesis through her eyes. The rune slayer class managed to stab her with rune swords. The video started glitching and ended.

"I was right!" gasped Demi dramatically with such smugness it was hard to tell if she was glad Nemesis got stabbed by the knight classes or if she was glad that she was right. She smiled a triumphant smile. The lunatic psyker gave her a worried look.

"Ok ignoring everything, plan of attack?" Asura asked, seriously. Then her hair started to change completely white and both her eyes turned red as blood. Her voice changed along with her facial expression and body posture. Where Asura's movements were graceful and quick, smug and knowing, this transformation made her lithe and suggestive, showing off her voluptuous figure and her voice was very, very, very smug. And superior. "I suggest that we send our dear witch out, I think that would be the best."

"Eun?" lunatic psyker had an odd expression on. It was like he swallowed a sour lemon then drank rotten milk and ended up eating and onion. To say it was not a pleasant expression. Asura turned towards him, leaning far too close till they were bare millimeters apart.

"Yes?" she grinned. Lunatic psyker jumped a foot away as if he had been burned. Asura sighed and then turned to Demi with a grin. "You better go before something bad happens Demi."

Demi gave lunatic psyker an look before he shrugged and practically ran out of the room, the dynamos trailing behind him like ducklings. Asura kept smiling and gave a little nod. She picked up a night goggle that was lying on the floor to Demi, Demi accepted them. Demi sighed and then teleported herself with magic. She was a good three miles from the base, and in complete darkness. Demi slipped on the night goggles onto her face and turned them on. The cavern was completely empty. And dark. She turned on her earpiece.

"Psyker, give me the locations." she asked while walking slowly and looking around. Silence and emptiness.

"North, four miles ahead, take all the right turns." Psyker's scratchy voice came through. Demi started teleporting. She made three good long jumps before seeing the lantern light and the large dent in the metal wall of the tunnel. In the darkness she spied upon the two knight classes huddled together and Nemesis's body untouched and frozen in the bare perimeter of the light. She observed the two knight classes.

The lord knight type had an injury in his leg, blood was shining in the light all over his leg. His face was contorted in an expression of pain and he was hissing sharply. It was clear he had dragged himself over to the rune slayer because you could see the trail of blood on the floor. The rune slayer was unconscious and Demi thought he looked far too pale to be healthy. The lord knight kept on muttering to the other knight class in urgent tones. The lantern kept flickering. Nemesis had two cuts in her stomach, extremely close to her power tank and one in her thigh. If Nemesis had kept on running, the fuel tank would be too venerable. By shutting down and letting her systems repair herself, she would be fine.

Now all Demi had to do was address the knight classes. From what she could see, they were not your ordinary el protectors. Their uniforms were ruined and the lord knight had a human look of fear on his face. Something that the el protectors would punish on sight for. He wasn't calling for backup and he looked far too tired to be an el protector. The lantern was something that wasn't used by Ishmael's light. They used El warrants. Concluding that they were runaways Demi whispered to psyker.

"She's fine, but how should I handle the knight classes? They don't seem to be part of Ishmael's light, runaways." she whispered, both eyes on the knight classes.

"I know that! I guess knock 'em out and take 'em back to base. Or interrogate them. My sensors from Nemesis says that their El warrants are very low and weak right now. One of them is in a very critical condition and the other will be fine. But hurry all that blood is going to attract something." Psyker replied. Demi narrowed her eyes.

"You put a tracker on Nemesis?" she hissed quietly. "She's going to kill you."

"Oh it's nothing." he muttered sullenly. "She put a tracker on me too."

"What?" Demi demanded with wide eyes. All the joking around at the base about how Psyker and Nemesis were an item. It couldn't be true! After all Nemesis was a nasod, and that would be very weird to be sexually attracted to nasods. Unless he was emotionally attracted!

"SHUT UP!" he hissed very fiercely over the ear piece. "I HAVE NO REASON-JUST DEAL WITH THEM IN FIVE MINUTES. END."

The eye piece ended the call. Demi stared off to the distance puzzled with Psyker's odd behavior. He was flustered over Nemesis? How sweet? Demi sighed and put on her leader face and stepped out into the lord knight's line of view.

"W-who?" he stammered, looking very high. The blood loss. Now there was a small puddle of blood around his boot. "A-are you the Diceon?"

"That doesn't look very good. Ya know? I think I'm just gonna knock you out and take ya back to camp." Demi smiled sweetly. She summoned her magical staff. Demi swore she had never seen someone's eyes get that wide that quickly.

"N-nope that's very fi-" Demi whacked him on the head. Gently. Probably concussed now but nothing nobody couldn't fix. Demi first teleported Nemesis to the closest thing they had for an infirmary, and then did the same with the rune slayer, and finally the lord knight. The knight class got blood all over her nice dress.

The base was abuzz seeing the new classes. Their current measly duo of nurses started to tend to the injured, which was a combat ranger and a dark magician. A tracer, mastermind class pulled up and informed Demi, "I send some nasod drones to clean up the blood. Please don't get the halls dirty. Plebian."

"Is that any way to treat your leader?" snapped Demi as she watched him pounce away into his tech lab. Several worried classes pulled up. Demi assured them to the best of her extent and went to check on the nurses. They were being tended to, with Nemesis's repairs being helped by Psyker. The lord knight had been bandaged and given some light el pieces. The rune slayer had been coaxed into some more high intensive treatments involving other medications that weren't el.

"How is it going?" Demi addressed an ranger class, combat ranger type. She had long soft green blond hair and lovely green eyes. She was one of the newer recruits. still in her old battered Ishmael's light uniform. She hadn't yet got her throne and would probably never under Diceon's care.

"Oh, the rune slayer needs more work. Nemesis is already rebooting, and the lord knight should be fine." she sighed. She leaned over the comatose body of the lord knight. There were bandages over his leg. He looked sickly and had sheen of sweat. Gross. The combat ranger changed the towels on his head. Nature spirits buzzed around the lord knight's leg fading in and out of existence. "Not to mention he has a rather large bump on his head."

Demi laughed nervously. "Alright, I'll go check on Nemesis."

Nemesis was already sitting down on a crate, one of the makeshift seats. Her usual black dress head been perfectly repaired. Her hair however was in a ponytail and she was in busy conversation with the mastermind. The mastermind was standing before her in a heated argument. Mastermind wore a lab coat and had long fluffy hair in a ponytail. His glasses were on and was waving his arms around in a annoyed manner. Demi was walking close enough to hear.

"Just give me the access to your drones!" he was shouting. "I can fix them, look what happened! Without Mobi and Remy you are far weaker!"

"Don't you dare talk to me that way." she seethed back, her golden eyes glaring with menace. "I can easily beat you without them."

"Of course! I'm not a fighter, but could you win against Asura?" the two both glanced at Asura in the far corner, still in her Eun mode. She gave them an innocent wave and smile. The two quickly looked away.

"Can anyone?" she pointed out. Mastermind shrugged. "Mind, just leave me alone, I'm fine."

Demi stood next to them and cleared her throat. Mind glanced at Nemesis to Demi and then left. She sat down next to Nemesis. "I can tell him off if you want."

"No, it's nothing worth your trouble." Nemesis shrugged off. "Information about knight classes, right?" Demi nodded, and then Nemesis continued on, "They claimed an Ain lead them to us. He knew our group name. The rune slayer has very good control of his throne and magic."

"An Ain. . .that's not very good." Demi finished off, she pondered. An Ain. This could get very bad quickly. Why would an Arme Thaumaturgy help them? There was no member that was an Ain in their group, unless he was referring to an lofty executer, but no alliance with Ains. They were far too loyal to Ishmael's light and it was too dangerous to even get close to an lofty class. Why would an Ain help, unless it wasn't an Ain at all or. . . .a different class of Ain. But so far, there was no sign of that. "We'll have to interrogate them when we wake up."

"Yes." Nemesis agreed. She stood up and before leaving, she notified Demi, "There is another cargo shipment coming in. I will manage it. Please rest."

Before Demi could complain Nemesis disappeared. Demi checked on the sleeping knight classes before turning off to the dorms. The rooms were usually shared by four people. But no one was usually in all at the same time. Because of the different sleeping patterns and jobs it was hard to catch another to bond with. Demi refused a single dorm, because it would waste storage space and extra beds. Demi wasn't all that tried, but still. Any rest was better than no rest.

Demi closed her eyes and woke up in an different place. She was floating in space. The thousands of twinkling stars around her and the colorful nebulas and galaxies swirling. Somehow she had transformed using magical makeup and was in magical girl form. Her magical girl form was far prettier than her normal attire. She looked prettier and looked like she used conditioner on her hair. Her dress was far more elegant and had a white outer layer. Her magical staff was by her too. In a crack of time, was a tracer class. Diabolic esper. He looked the same, long white hair, black sclera's next to his purple eyes. He wore that ugly black plug suit as always. Same old bored expression that followed him around whenever he wasn't interested.

"Hello." Demi smiled. She wasn't in a good mood. Being called to this place meant that the esper had tried to mess with time again. Her smile was more tight and her eyes held a threat. It all sailed past the esper.

"Can't you just let me change the past?" he moaned, slouching into the tear. Demi laughed, far too fake and far too high.

"You must be joking!" she screamed, angry. The esper ignored the flip on emotions. She threw her staff at the esper. The esper held a hand out and the staff stopped a good distance away from him. "I will fight you and win again."

"Hey, I can make a world without Ishmael's light." suggested esper, his offer to tempting. Demi knew that esper was just like the devil. Making sweet promises, but you never knew the repercussions until afterwards. And afterwards half the world was dead.

"And a world where you'd be happy, destroying millions of dimesons and timelines in the progress." she snapped back. And put her hands of her waist with a stern scolding expression. "Are you stupid or what?"

Esper just stared at her. Then the entire scene faded away into a dream. Ten billions of different dreams her brain was experiencing at once. All the dreams seem to spell out, without a doubt, Aisha. Demi didn't know where the world would go to from then on. There was so many ways it could go wrong. But the names were all too strange. Ain, Aisha. There was something about the names that Ishmael's light was hiding. And maybe the secret to the El Lady and Solace. Solace knew the answers. Because Demi knew, he was the cause of all the problems.

Demi feared that one of the knight classes that just came might know the truth, or would figure out everything. Esper was no help. He knew everything, but according to him, if he made a deal with her, allowing him to escape from this 'Glave' person he would tell her. But Demi never agreed. And all those secrets would stay secrets.

Remembering something important. Like how the lord knight got blood on her dress. She would have to ask Nemesis or one of the others for help on how to get blood out of her dress.

* * *

Special thanks to Amy Valikie for the two reviews

There are also haircuts that are mandatory under Ishmael's light. In total there are 15 member currently in the Diceon group. Demi is the current leader. Usually those with nicknames have been around longer than the ones without nicknames. So far, Mind, Psyker, Asura, Nemesis, and Demi.


	4. Unrealistic expectations

Knight felt like he was dying. Or more like his leg was on fire. It ached and burned and itched in the most worst way. Like it was completely ripped apart. He looked around. He was in an metal room, not lit, but there was light from outside. There was a white curtain. On his leg was a swath of bandages. Sucking in a quick breath he peeled off the bandages to see unmarred skin. He stared for one hard moment then shrugged and wrapped it back up again. He swung off the bed and tried to stand, but the movement caused his head to spin in three different directions. He groaned loudly.

"Oh! Here!" a soft and kind voice came out of no where. A ranger class, combat ranger type brushed through the curtains and helped Knight sit down. She wore a rugged uniform. His heart stopped. Was everything a dream? Was he back at Ishmael's light? Knight started to panic a little Her shoes were black and fancy looking. Her gloves were the blue surgeon gloves. She seemed to have noticed his panic and told him comfortingly, "Don't worry, you're at Diceon's base."

Knight sighed and relaxed. Now his panic was gone, he noticed that she was very pretty. Ranger classes were generally pretty, Knight knew that, but he hadn't seen one up close. Everything about her was pretty or enchanting. Her eyes and hair were green, and her symmetrical face and womanly assets made it hard for Knight to think. In Ishmael light most classes didn't interact with each other. Seeing the other gender so close made his ears burn. "I healed you, so you should be fine. But you'll still experience dizziness from El overload and blood loss."

"Y-yeah." stammered Knight. Then he remembered the battle of Rune and the code class. His thoughts were wiped away into a form of determination, he grabbed the ranger's hands and stared into her wide green eyes, she jerked back but didn't hit him. "Where is Rune? Is he ok?"

"The rune slayer? Yes, he is." smiled the ranger. Knight let go and sighed a breath of relief. They were both safe. With a more relaxed position he asked her.

"Did you find Ain?" the ranger's smile grew more tense and more strained. She stood up and withdrew with a mysterious parting sentence.

"About that, we'll see." Knight heard her soft voice trail off into the light. The curtains were still moving slightly as she left. Knight lay back down, and stared at the ceiling.

He was finally where he wanted to be. This place must be Diceon. Knight didn't know anything. Yet everything felt wrong. The curtains swished again. With a wince he turned his head to see who it was. A purple haired girl. A magician class. Then it got harder to pick out what type she was. All magician types looked pretty similar. There were key features he hadn't seen before on her. Curly purple hair, and larger assets that he hadn't really seen on another magician classes. That got his attention. Knight had very limited contact with females. So it was fairly easy to say he was unused to them. She had an arm leaning casually to the side of the entrance, she had white heels, slightly scratched and dirty, with a pink dress. On her face was a playful grin.

"Well, about time you got up." her voice was fruity and teasing. Knight remembered. She was the one who knocked him, he would have recognized that voice anywhere. He grew tense and wary, eyeing the standing magician class. "Sorry 'bout that. You fine now?"

"Yes." he replied, watching her. She nodded.

"Last night, I was bringin you to camp, and you bleed all over my dress!" she complained sounding very bratty and spoiled. Knight stared at her. She did not seem like what he expected a Diceon member to be.

"Sorry?" he offered awkwardly, the magician shrugged.

"That's ok, I'm gonna need you for a bit." she told him Knight felt even more confused by her change of attitude, then she turned around. "Are you ok to walk?"

Knight tried to stand on his leg. His injured leg was a bit shaky, and pain lanced up through the leg, but he took a shaky breath and nodded. The magician class noticed this and with a more worried tone, "You sure? You should rest a bit more, ya know?"

"I-i'm fine." Knight grit his teeth, taking steps of immense pain. The magician gave him another look before shrugging and going through the curtain. Knight himself drew back the curtain and peered outside.

It was a very well lit place. The walls were made of metal and curved. There were lights in the wall that glowed white. All over the area were makeshift chairs of crates, piles of books, chunks of stone. There were longer larger pieces of items placed next to each other to make a long mix match table. Over to the right was an open door. There were lots of doors all throughout the place, with three different halls trailing off somewhere. There was the code class that attacked them in the hall talking to a. . .tracer class? Knight was unsure. He had never seen a tracer class before, he had only fleeting glances of them in the dioramas at Ishmael's light. Extremely rare and dangerous.

Knight glared at the code class. The other two noticed their presences. The code nodded in their direction. She looked perfectly fine. In fact she even wore a white flower pin on her black dress now. The tracer class just crossed his arm and glared down on Knight like he was a piece of trash. He had strange purple eyes and wore a white lab coat with long fluffy white hair in a ponytail. He also had a strange purple scar. The magician waved her hand.

"Okay, Nemesis and Mind will be just asking you some qu-" started the magician in a cheerful voice. Knight recoiled from her, but then hissed at the sudden movement and interrupted her.

"You're going to interrogate me?" he hissed. The magician looked nervously over her shoulder and laughed awkwardly. So much for Diceon. Great impressions going on, really.

"Not really, just some questions, that's all." she told him, Knight didn't buy it. However he couldn't fight them. There was a code, an magician, and a tracer class right here, he couldn't defeat any them without a sword. Not to mention injured and he didn't know where Rune was.

"If you want to see your friend alive then you will comply." scoffed the tracer class. Knight seethed in his mind. He didn't like the tracer class at all. The feeling seemed mutual.

"Shut up Mind." the code nemesis warned him without looking at him. The tracer tsked and looked away. She started walking away. "Follow me."

Knight gave the magician one glance, who made shooing motions and then reluctantly trailed after the tracer and the code. He glanced at the code and the tracer who were walking down a hallway. They opened a door revealing three chairs, one of them was not in a good condition. The code elegantly sat down on one chair, and the tracer on the other, leaving the dirty chair to Knight. He made no sign of movement. The code nemesis took note of that and spoke sharply to the tracer.

"Mind move over." she ordered him. He didn't move. "Mind you have 3 seconds." With a grunt the tracer moved while giving Knight the evil eye. Knight felt like sticking his tongue out at him. Even though he didn't want to sit down he did so to spite the tracer.

Just as he sat down a tiny nasod drone floated in carrying three teacups. The code took one, the tray floated by tracer who grumbled, the nasod moved over to Knight. "Would you like one?"

Knight glanced at her. An impeccable poker face. Gingerly he took one. The tea was still warm. The liquid inside was a watery reddish black. He frowned remembering the Ain. The code was already taking small sips. Knight knew he was extremely thirsty. He took a sip. Herbal. A mix of slight el. Knight knew it was el, he wondered what type it was. He drank the entire cup. By then the nasod had floated away with the tray.

"Please tell us about your journey and about that Ain." asked the code with genuine interest. The tracer had opened a purple diorama. Knight decided to keep the details and information as short as possible.

"We left Ishmael's light, Rune and I. Used a El warrant, something led me to the tunnel. I'm not sure. We meet the Ain. He told us things. Then we had to leave him. Then we meet you, and now we're here." oversimplified and short. Ignoring everything about the two sacrifices they had made. Infinity and Ain. Knight gripped the teacup handle more tightly recalling them. Infinity's face was already fading. What were his words? Knight couldn't remember them anymore. Something important. His will, what was his will?

"That's not all to the story." it was a statement. Knight looked away. "Tell us about the Ain, how he looked."

The Ain. Such a fake smile. Knight couldn't understand that Ain at all. The Arme Thaumaturgy and that Ain were so different. That Ain knew things, important and secretive things. Who was he? Knight bitterly thought. He had nothing to lose. Knight shrugged. "He had gray hair. All of his hair was gray. He wore clothes like you guys. He wore a smile all the time. He talked like he knew things."

The tracer was typing things into the diorama, and the code looked up, her honey eyes wide. It was hard to tell if she was surprised or if it was just her normal face. She stopped sipping her tea and set it lower from her face. "All gray hair?"

Knight nodded. She blinked slowly. Tracer turned to Knight with the same annoyed expression, but almost interested. "You sure it wasn't blue, it's ok to admit that you're colorblind."

He said it so scathingly and mockingly Knight would give up his arm to deck him. The code tutted. "Mind." The tracer looked away, annoyed. "You said. . he knew things?"

Knight shrugged, trying to recall the Ain's words. But it is pretty hard to remember things when your leg got impaled and if your head got whacked by a staff. Not that Knight was complaining. " Something about the outside world. He knew about Diceon, you guys, and that there were spies and something about Solace. Kind of hard to remember."

The tracer looked horrified. The code sighed and stood up. She turned to tracer. "It's my turn this time." then she turned to Knight. "I'll will inform Demi about this."

"Are you kidding?!" hissed the tracer, glaring at the code nemesis. "She'll go back to her doomsday mode again!"

Code nemesis stared at tracer like he had tried to sick a french-fry up his nose. "What are you suggesting we do."

"Something else. . . " trailed off the tracer. Knight looked at them like he would watch a diorama show. Then there was large commotion outside. A long loud bloodcurdling scream down the hall. The two raced out in union. Knight followed them.

He saw Rune and the combat ranger in the large main area. His first thought was, 'wow Rune is alive and well! That's great!'. The second was, 'HOLY EL WHAT IS HE DOING?'. Rune was like bandaged mummy, his leg and arm in a cast. Three rune swords were just mere inches away from the combat ranger's head and chest. The combat ranger had been something of a nurse to Knight. Rune's scarlet eyes were narrowed and fierce. The magician was talking to Rune.

"Calm down rune slayer! We're not going to hurt you!" the magician screamed, her staff from last night? Yesterday? Was in her hand. Her staff was in a cutesy heart shape design but Knight knew not to be deceived by the shape. It HURT when she had hit him last night. Rune scoffed in a very Infinity like manner.

"Yeah right, tell that to the cast on my arm and leg!" he wheezed in a very loud raspy angry way. Knight had to nod, it was a pretty good point.

"We put that cast and healed your wounds." countered the magician with a glare. Rune rolled his eyes.

"Why hurt me in the first place them?" he demanded in his old man voice. Another good point. Two points for him.

Before Rune could something else really stupid, like say actually stab the combat ranger, Knight intercepted.

"Rune calm down." he said in his order voice. Rune's eyes widened and Knight could see the joy and relief on his face before it was quickly hidden. Slightly hesitantly Rune let the rune swords fade away. "Thank you Rune, this is Diceon. This is what we came for. It's not what we expected," Rune and Knight both glanced at the code nemesis, "We both made it."

Then Rune and Knight passed out. Under the thick silence cod nemesis made a wry confession. "I may have gave him too much of the tea."

"What was in the tea?" asked the combat ranger shakily, still shaken up from the rune swords.

"Who knows." lied code nemesis. The magician and tracer exchanged glances. They moved the bodies back into the infirmary rooms.

* * *

Special thanks to Army Vailkie.

There was something in the tea that had to do with El. El can work both as a medicine and a drug. You can get 'high' on el. That is why there are El warrants in order to regulate el usage. El works as something akin to alcohol at times too.


	5. Strange things

"Demi, aren't you busy?" asked Knight worriedly. He had a week to spend with the Diceon. There were about ten members he knew of. Nemesis, Mind, Psyker, Asura, Combat ranger, Demi, Veteran commander, Void princess, Yama Raja, and Night watcher. Knight's uniform had been changed into a red sweater top with baggy grey pants. A simple greatsword was given to him. He grew close to Demi and the Veteran commander.

Demi, Asura, Mind, combat ranger, void princess, veteran commander were in often. Demi was the leader of the Diceon group. Her schedule was random and erratic. A week off, gone the next four weeks, three days here, nine days out. Veteran commander was the cook. He was pacifist by nature, but in order to survive Ishmaels light he had to hide it. The reason why he defected was that he wanted to cook instead of kill. Pskyer and Mind were often in their rooms and never slept at night. You could hear their obnoxious laughters at 3 am in the morning and a following 'shut up!' from the others.

Nemesis had a steady schedule, out for a week back in for 3 days max. Mind and Pskyer's schedule changed according to Nemesis's. The combat ranger worked as a nurse and void princess was in quite often and always tried to challenge Demi and undermine her for the position of leadership.

"It's fine Knight." smiled Demi. She looked a bit more cheerful that usual. The two were walking along the halls with a nasod flashlight to guide them. They had teleported five times and Knight had lost his lunch. Now Demi was searching for an exit. She pressed a button. "Here it is."

The plate of metal slid open. It showed the outside work. It was extremely cold, almost freezing. There was swathes of mist, so dense you couldn't see anything. Knight stared, his breaths becoming visible. Demi grinned at his reaction. "Wow."

"I know, right?" grinned Demi smugly. She gestured to the outside. "It's pretty cool." then she closed the metal plate again. "You have to be careful. There was this one time Yama raja drew a mosnter's attention."

"Monster?" Knight repeated, staring at her as Demi closed the metal plate. Demi nodded as she turned on the flashlight again. The darkness was now lit up by a single white beam of light.

"Yeah, there are monsters and demons out there. I guess Ishmael's light teaches otherwise." shrugged Demi as she walked. Knight wondered a bit. Then Demi tackled him. Knight tried to shove her off, but it was too late. They were teleporting again.

Back at the base, Knight was on the ground groaning while Demi looked satisfied. Knight groaned out, "I hate you."

"You love me." grinned back Demi cheekily. Then she walked out. Knight was used to that, her just leaving. He overheard Rune's laughter. Rune was getting along ok with the others. He and the combat ranger made up and were fine friends now. He spent his time with the combat ranger and veteran commander. Knight followed his laughter to the pseudo infirmary. Rune and combat ranger were there exchanging jokes. Rune noticed him and waved him over.

"Hey Knight." he grinned and slung an arm over him. Knight smiled awkwardly back at him. "How was the visit to the outside?"

Knight perked up at the topic. Animatedly he began too explain to Rune. "It was extremely cold! And there was fog everywhere. And Demi said that once Yama raja once led a monster inside. And she also said that there are demons! Isn't that so cool?"

Combat ranger laughed, her laughter sounded like twinkling bells. She had a wry smile as she responded. "Ah, yes I remember. When Yama raja first came here she demanded to see the outside. She even stepped outside too, and not just stopping at looking at it."

"Really?" gasped Rune and Knight at the same time. Combat ranger nodded.

"She really wanted to go outside. Then out of nowhere a large red pig came charging out of the fog. Demi had to save her." said combat ranger in a matter of factly tone. Rune and Knight exchanged another set of glances. "Well, now? She still wants to go outside but she's a lot more careful."

"Awww, no fair I wanna go outside too." complained Rune. Combat ranger gave him a stern glare enough to make him stiffen.

"You are not going outside until you are completely healed." she ordered him with a imperial tone that mimicked Nemesis's voice when ordering around the tracer classes. Rune sighed and glared off to the distance.

"Rune calm down, you're not missing out on anything. The outside isn't going to move anytime." assured Knight in his own way. Rune muttered something very vague. "Besides, she's right, you're not going anywhere in your condition."

"I hate you both." he complained without very much heat in his words. Combat ranger shrugged. Rune drew back his arm and Knight used this change to slip away. He walked to the kitchen of the Diceon base. There was always a smell of something delicious. Unlike Ishmael's light where food didn't have any smell and subtle tastes far too delicate to taste without concentration. Knight learned about food with smells and the tastes. There was savory, crispy, sweet, sour, bitter, bland, salty and some more without words to describe them. There was always this delicious smell of food, liveliness that seemed to give life to the kitchen, something Ishmael's light never had.

"Hey." called out Knight as he walked in. The stove was on with a large pot boiling on it. He guessed there would be soup today. Veteran commander was skillfully cutting potatoes with his nasod arm. With modifications Nemesis made, the nasod arm could convert to two forms. There was Battle function and Life function. In Life function the nasod hand was reduced to the same size as a normal person's hand. In Battle function it would return to it's nasod state. Nemesis was considered a genius by the tracer classes for doing so.

Veteran commander had hair that reached his shoulder with a red streak in his black hair. He had bronzed skin with some scars. His golden eyes were sharp and tired. He was solider, Knight could tell by the way he moved and talked. Strict and strong. He wore a black long sleeved shirt and grey pants with a floral print apron on. "Welcome, I'm making some potato soup."

"Never heard of it." replied Knight. He discovered heavenly creations like steak and grilled pork chops. He didn't know how veteran commander changed the dull tasting meat at Ishmael's light to become this awesome creation. He walked in.

"Can you hand me some potatoes over by the bin?" he asked. The metal bin was filled with strange vegetables and fruits. He picked out brown lumps that veteran commander was cutting up and set them on the cutting board next to him. "Thank you."

"No problem." replied Knight easily. He watched as veteran commander added the sliced potatoes into the soup and started to add other chopped up vegetables or fruits to the mix. Then he put the lid on top and changed the stove's heat. Then he turned to face Knight. Veteran commander was fairly tall, about a head taller than Knight.

"So what brings you to my nest?" joked Raven giving Knight a small twitch of his lips. "Hoping to steal a bite like last time?"

Knight blushed slightly and turned his nose up. He muttered out, "It was just ONE time."

"It's fine." Veteran commander laughed.

"I went to see the Outside today." grinned Knight excitedly. His eyes and face were glowing like a child's and his excitement was almost tangible.

"Huh, how was it?" asked veteran commander with some amusement. He was watching Knight closely with one eye and the other on the stove.

"It was amazing! It's unlike Ishmael's light or like the tunnels." smiled Knight. Knight knew that it was only mist, but unlike the stagnant airs of the tunnels or Ishmael's light it was fresh, and there was temperature and mist.

"You should see it when it's not cloudy, there is a real sun out there." veteran commander informed Knight. Knight's eyes grew large and wide, he started to tap his fingers on the table.

"A real SUN?" he gasped loudly. Veteran commander nodded.

"I was a wee bit like you when I first saw the Outside. It's got the same, I'm alive sort of feeling, huh." veteran commander mused thoughtfully while watching the water start to simmer.

"Yeah!" agreed Knight. He didn't know why he loved the Outside, it wasn't particular or special. In fact it would probably kill him given the chance. Yet it called to him, just like veteran commander's food. It was something inside him that just moved along to his heart. It was a sense of something he could never name. It was there but it disappeared sometimes. Under the tunnel is was a whisper, during battle it was a roar. It was sense of power he could never name, a balance that ran in his veins and pulsed along with his mind and being. Veteran commander called it the sense of truth. He had it too, and so did Yama raja according to him.

"Well want me to tell you a story?" he asked, even though he knew Knight's answer. Knight always said yes. He didn't wait for Knight's reply and started anyways. "You see Solace became Solace the traitor because he envied the System. He knew the System was far greater than him and he wanted to steal the Patron. However he could not steal the Patron without help. They say one of the Master thrones helped Solace steal the Patron. Of course all our current Patrons are alive, but some say he killed all the Master thrones and the Patron and left. Some claim he used the Patron's body to build Paradise. Paradise is a floating castle in the sky with power to live and breath without the El warrants. He lives there and picks up the rebels of Ishmael's light to offer a way of life outside it's laws and rules." Veteran commander's eyes became more dazed. "But no one knows if it's true."

Then he turned to the pot and went to tend it. Knight knew that veteran commander was too busy to be bothered again. So he left to join Rune again. As he walked across the main room, he saw the door open. It was Nemesis who was easily carrying a four metal box tied together with a rope that totaled the size of a boulder. She hefted it in. The door to the tracer's lab opened and Psyker came out.

"Medical, rations." she reported to Psyker who stared to undo the bands and boxes. Knight started over to help him. Pskyer gave him a odd look which Knight ignored. Unlike Mind, Pskyer wasn't too bad until he started talking. Mind was always an irritating presence. Three of the boxes were filled with food packets. The fourth one had bandages.

"I'll takes these to veteran commander." Knight hefted up two boxes to make one trip then the last one to make two trips. Veteran commander was adding milk to the pot and was too busy to notice Knight. As he came back he overheard Nemesis.

"Yama Raja says that she'll come visit tomorrow. There was a sign of an El beast, but it seems to have retreated with no visible damage." Nemesis told Pskyer as a purple diorama popped up recording her words. "She states that there are strange impulses around certain areas of the tunnels."

"Alright, I'll send that to Demi and Asura, maybe they'll analyze something out of it." sighed Pskyer. The diorama disappeared. Then Pskyer noticed Knight and gave him a glance. "You said that the 'Ain' was being chased by an El beast right?"

"Yes. . ." Knight responded defensively. Nobody really believed in the strange Ain except Demi and maybe veteran commander. Nemesis was kind of hard to tell if she believed it too or it was just her poker face.

"Do you think he lived? Yama raja says there isn't any sign of anything that happened." Pskyer asked. Knight shrugged. If the El beast was attacked and returned then more El beasts would be sent out. If the El beast disappeared then more El beasts would come. But if the El beast tracked down Ain and brought him back then more El beast would be sent out to check. It had been a week and Yama Raja didn't say anything about more El beasts. That must have meant that Ain got away and the beast returned without alerting Ishmael's light. Strange.

"Maybe, it would make sense though. . ." trailed off Knight. Pskyer nodded and Nemesis gave him the same blank gaze as always.

"Thank you for your input." Nemesis told Knight, then she walked away into one of the halls. Psyker and Knight were left in the main area.

"Why not, anyways, do you er, want to go, uh." Pskyer was griping for words. Knight sighed and decided to put him out of his misery.

"No it's fine." replied Knight with a smile. "Nice of you to ask."

"Oh, alright." Pskyer replied. Knight shrugged and left.

.

The quiet tunnels bothered Ain. He looked around. It was pitch black. Looking around the Ain slipped his fingers into his coat pocket and fished out a small blue metal device. It was round and had a glowing orb in the center. The light was a soft orange but very weak. Ain could read the tiny letters imprinted at the very bottom of the circle. It read, _Eun Pt.14488_.

"Eun, can you hear me?" whispered Ain. His voice echoed off the walls slightly. The orb just continued glowing softly. He sighed and continued talking, "At least hear me out, please? You know what'll happen if we don't hurry!" His voice was urgent and pleading, but the orb continued glowing, unaware or uncaring of the person who talked to it.

Ain sighed. He walked down the tunnels, his footsteps barely audible. He pocketed the orb again and summoned a glowing red diamond. The light was much brighter and showing the tunnels more clearly than the orb. He stopped at the side. A Yama raja was passed out, leaning against the metal wall. Her head was slumped and her black hair was draped over her shoulders.

"Listen to me very carefully, tell them that Ebalon is coming and you have to rescue Eun. You have to gather all pieces no matter what. Understood?" the Ain whispered to the Yama raja. She didn't react in any way. Ain sighed and set the orb down next to the Yama raja. Then he walked away leaving the body behind in the darkness.

* * *

The plot thickens. After chapter 15 I'm planning a side story, (name is spoiler). I hope you can bear with me till then.

Thank Ishmael for pre-written chapters i forgot were laying around :)


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